Technical manuals are extremely visible communication pieces, because the information contained therein defines whether the end user will have a positive or negative experience with the product, and this perception will extend to the brand as a result. Knowing this, having technical manuals translated should be viewed as extremely strategic by companies seeking to stand out in the market. So, let’s take a look at the precautions required when translating such material into another language.

1. Knowledge of specific terminology in your market

Each market segment has its own technical terms, which must not be neglected when translating manuals. Choosing a target-language native translator with expertise in your company’s specific market segment is essential at this time, because only a professional with in-depth knowledge of the field will make the right terminology choices.

High-performance translation agencies use translators specialized in many market segments. This makes them an excellent option to turn to for your business.

2. Keeping an eye on client preferences

Client preferences represent another point for attention when translating manuals. For example: let’s imagine that an original manual indicates that the user needs to access a menu called “Settings”. This is a term with several accurate translations applicable to Brazilian Portuguese, such as: Definitions, Configurations and Adjustments. To know which option to use, the translator needs to have access to the product’s references in order to look up which expression the company has used previously.

To help standardize the text of translations for each client, professional agencies also offer some additional services, such as Glossary and Style Guide creation and management, which contribute to a database of the client’s preferences.

3. Design and layout

After manuals are translated, their conversion into proper layout and format is another factor to be considered. Aware of how this stage can represent a burden for the client to manage, professional translation agencies also offer Design and Layout services, delivering the material translated and formatted, 100% ready for publication.

4. Quality check stages

In order for the translated material to reach the end consumer as an accurate representation of the original manual, both in terms of content and layout, it must undergo various quality check stages.

This practice is widespread among translation agencies. Apart from relying on a multidisciplinary team that includes Quality Assurance (QA) professionals, agencies of this caliber also use technologies that ensure a high standard of quality, as well as other advantages, such as: greater agility for processing large volumes quickly, secure data storage, on-time translation backups, and finally, confidentiality and punctuality in returning materials.

To find out more about the subject, we recommend reading the article “How to hire a translation partner?”.

About Netwire

Created in 2000, Netwire is a multilingual solution enterprise that provides translation and localization into any language. Based in Brazil and with a presence in North America and Europe, the company uses state-of-the-art translation technologies so it can process large volumes quickly, with a high quality standard. It has a network of hundreds of native translators, specialized in different business fields to serve multiple market segments. In the past five years alone, Netwire processed over 110 million words, delivering an average of 400 projects per month. This experience makes Netwire the ideal partner to handle any translation demand. Request an estimate via website or by telephone and guarantee the best solution for your business!